2023 Front 7 Position Preview

 

2023 Front 7 Preview


LB Darren Anders (photo via Toledo Blade)

Looking back at 2022


2022 was a very up and down year for this defense as a whole. Some games were lights out like WMU, CMU, Miami OH. Other games were TERRIBLE like Buffalo, Kent, Ohio. 


Two incoming transfers last year in Chris Bacon (Georgia State) and DJ Taylor (Wake Forest) along with BG stalwarts Darren Anders had over 70 tackles. Karl Brooks is obviously the biggest name, reaching 50 tackles, 10 sacks and being drafted in the 6th round to the Green Bay Packers. Losing a guy like Karl who has been a Falcon since the Mike Jinks days is a huge loss but as a collective defense we could see an even better year. 

When looking at the front 7, losing DJ Taylor, JB Brown, Walter Haire, and of course Karl Brooks are HUGE losses. Walter and Karl were not only great players, but captains as well. Taylor came in for one year from Wake Forest and was dominant in the middle. 


Departures 


DJ Taylor graduates as does Walter Haire and Bryce Brand. Karl Brooks gets drafted to the NFL. JB Brown transfers to Kansas, Justin Schiets goes to Northern Michigan (D2), Blaine Spires goes to Utah State, and Chase Watton and Brennen Spiess are not listed on the roster anymore. 

Incoming


Coach Loeffler brings in Marquette Harris (JUCO), Chace Davis (UTSA), Davian Mayo (Memphis), Evan Branch-Haynes (Arizona), and Andrew Booker (Maryland) from the transfer portal. Dayln White, Ian van der Merwe, David Afhogo, Jabari Mitchell, and Alijah Williams comes in via the high school ranks. 


Who will start in 2023?


Darren Anders obviously will anchor the front 7 along with Demetrius Hardamon, Brock Horne, Anthony Hawkins and Billie Roberts. These 5 should all see significant playing time and be starters in most of the games. The Front 7 needs more depth than most positions and everyone will need to contribute to make up for the loss of Karl Brooks. Hopefully the transfers will have a positive impact right away and the younger guys can develop and not need to get on the field before they are ready like we have seen in years past. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Transfer Portal 2024

Image
  Transfer Portal 2024     The transfer portal in my opinion is fun, good for players, and actually helps a school like Bowling Green.      The portal also has so many opportunities for different players. You have studs from the G5 move up to the SEC, P5 backups dropping down to start at G5 schools. You have FCS starters jumping up to FBS, also FCS backups who would rather be a backup at a FBS school. Many casual fans do not realize how valuable depth guys are and scout team players truly make big differences in practice. Even G5 guys would rather be a backup at an SEC school. So in my mind, the portal is a plus value.      This list may not be 100% accurate but is updated to the best of my knowledge. I am going to give my opinions on each player, not meaning any disrespect but just an honest assessment of each player's impact in my opinion. Best of luck to all the guys leaving, and a big welcome to all the new Falcons joining! Incoming Transfers Breakdown: Total: 18 Position RB: 1
Read more

State of the Program 12/4/23

Image
Bowling Green Clinches First Winning Record Since 2015!! (photo via BG Athletics)     Scot Loeffler said it weeks ago, this team has a chance to do something special. I would say beating a Power 5 team on the road, going 5-3 in the MAC and blowing some teams out qualifies as special. Think back to just a few years ago. Mike Jinks' BG team was going 2-10, players getting arrested, zero culture, zero love for the school and the traditions. Now Coach Loeffler in another seemingly do or die season has showed up, showed out, and needs a contract extension ASAP. Now that I am no longer traveling, let's cover a few recent football topics.  1. 4 Game Winning Streak     For the first time since 2015, Bowling Green football won 4 games in a row. Buffalo beat us last year, Akron has had our number recently under Tom Arth, Ball State is still coached by MAC Champions Mike Nue and had 22 seniors, and Kent was 5-0 in their last 5 against us. Coach Loeffler finally toppled the Flashes and it
Read more

State of the Program 10/16/23

Image
State of the Program 10/16/23 (photo via BG Athletics) Vibes?     The vibes should be good across BG nation. The win on the road at Buffalo was HUGE. I said it in my recap blog (will publish tonight), this outcome makes perfect sense. BG is going to be  inconsistent, meaning that after getting blown out 27-0 they will win this much needed road contest. Going into the year, I really thought this team could have been 1-6 with only an FCS win. I thought more likely was 2-5. I really did not give 3-4 much of a thought, so despite the 2 blowout MAC losses, I am quite impressed with the current state of the program. Getting a P5 win is always a legacy win. Even a 4-8 or 3-9 season I would not look at as an absolute nuclear failure for any MAC team if you sprinkle in a P5 win. BG got a bunch of national attention especially after GTech beat undefeated Miami on the road the next week. I always thought Liberty, Michigan, Ohio would be losses and was hoping to split Miami OH and Buffalo. BG spli
Read more